A philosophical novel written by Daniel Quinn, the book first begins with our narrator finding an ad in the paper that stated:

TEACHER SEEKS PUPIL. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person.

Jaded by the lack of change that occurred during the 60s, the narrator then answers to this ad to confront this so-called teacher, and ends up learning about just how the world works.

This novel is the first in a trilogy that includes My Ishmael and The Story of B.

This book contains the following tropes:

Bittersweet Ending: The narrator is Ishmael's first successful student and learns all that he needs to know, but Ishmael dies.

In the sequel, we find out that he actually faked his death so his student would quit following him around and go apply what he'd been taught.

Cain and Abel: Takers and Leavers, basically. Specifically, Ishmael theorizes the social conditions (competition between takers and leavers) under which the framework of the story of Cain and Abel arose.

Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": Takers and Leavers, for, roughly, hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists. The difference is more complex than that, which is why he invents the new terminology.

The Film of the Book: Sort of. Instinct, a film starring Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding, Jr., recasts the gorilla as an old man in jail for murder. It turns out he was an anthropologist working with gorillas a la Jane Goodall. He's in jail because he murdered two poachers who shot the apes he'd come to love.

Filk Song: Similarly, Pearl Jam's "Do the Evolution" was inspired by the novel, with the narrator being basically a Taker proclaiming its superiority over everything on Earth.

God Is Flawed: The Taker reasoning, according to the narrator, is that the gods made man to rule the world, but the gods were incompetent and made man flawed. Therefore, man has to take his destiny into his own hands.

It Makes Sense in Context: Actually, even after you find out what the teacher really is, it still doesn't really make sense. You just roll with it.

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